Membrane Processes for Microplastic Removal

Abstract

Plastic pollution of the aquatic environment is a major concern considering the disastrous impact on the environment and on human beings. The significant and continuous increase in the production of plastics causes an enormous amount of plastic waste on the land entering the aquatic environment. Furthermore, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are reported as the main source of microplastic and nanoplastic in the effluents, since they are not properly designed for this purpose. The application of advanced wastewater treatment technologies is mandatory to avoid effluent contamination by plastics. A concrete solution can be represented by membrane technologies as tertiary treatment of effluents in integrated systems for wastewater treatment, in particular, for the plastic particles with a smaller size (< 100 nm). In this review, a survey of the membrane processes applied in the plastic removal is analyzed and critically discussed. From the literature analysis, it was found that the removal of microplastic by membrane technology is still insufficient, and without the use of specially designed approaches, with the exception of membrane bioreactors (MBRs).

Microplastics and their potential effects on the aquaculture systems: a critical review

“…In daily life, synthetic microfibers produced during the laundry process, irrational discharge of catering waste, the large use of cosmetics, and the animal and plant metabolites are also the important sources of soil and water MPs (Zubris & Richards 2005;Rillig 2012;Ju et al 2019). On the other hand, the diffuse sources pollution mainly refers to the industrial and agricultural membranes, construction of farms and buildings, sand sediment of rivers, lakes and seas, landfills and waste disposal, and others (Boucher & Friot 2017;Poerio et al 2019). Lastly, in terms of removal of MPs, although the highest removal rate of MPs by the modern sewage treatment systems and technologies can reach as high as 99.9%, but it is largely depended on the application of specific technologies.…”

Increased plastic pollution due to COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and recommendations

“…Wastewater treatments seem to eliminate a considerable percentage of plastic debris, but there is still a need of complementary treatments when considering particles of smaller size such as microplastics [97] . With this purpose, and in addition to the membrane treatments and filtrations already applied, the application of cleaner technologies, such as the application of membrane processes, regenerative filters systems or precipitation with magnetic nanoparticles, and application of inorganic–organic hybrid silica gels – organosilanes, have been developed and proved to be successful [97] , [98] , [99] , [100] . There are other experimental techniques that are being devolved for this purpose, such as dynamic membranes, photocatalysis, elimination with fats and constructed wetlands (a horizontal subsurface-flow that uses vegetation, soil and organisms to treat wastewater) [97] .…”

Microplastics in Ecosystems: From Current Trends to Bio-Based Removal Strategies

“…Membrane filtration systems are also used as tertiary treatment solutions in order to remove plastics from effluents, in particular, plastic particles of smaller size, in integrated wastewater treatment systems [ 56 ]. However, polymeric membranes can themselves be a source of plastic waste.…”